General William Westmoreland, who commanded US military operations in the Vietnam War, died on Monday night at a retirement home in Charleston, South Carolina, said Linda Maines, night supervisor at the facility. Westmoreland, who lived at the Bishop Gadsden retirement community with his wife, was 91. The cause of death was not immediately available.
The silver-haired officer, whose name will always be linked to the Vietnam War, was known for highly publicised and positive assessments of US military prospects in the conflict.
Westmoreland led US troops in Vietnam from 1965 until 1968. Under his command, the number of fighting men rose from just a few thousand to more than 500,000, but victory remained out of reach despite the escalating US involvement.
As protest movements against the undeclared war grew at home, Westmoreland kept pushing for more troops and arms in the field.
Under his command, search and destroy tactics were used, as was the defoliant Agent Orange and the liquid fire, napalm. But efforts to drive the Viet Cong from the countryside were not particularly successful.
Westmoreland tried to win the war by first winning the "hearts and minds" of the Vietnamese people, but the increasing American involvement in the war proved as unpopular there as it did at home.
The turning point of the US involvement in Vietnam was in January and February 1968 during Tet, the lunar new year - previously a traditional cease-fire period.
The Viet Cong launched the Tet offensive against more than 100 cities and military bases, catching US troops off guard. The Viet Cong held on for weeks with some of the bloodiest and most violent fighting of the war. The strength and ability of the communist troops stunned US forces. Casualties were very high.
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